Allen, no I haven't dumped them yet, but I'm getting ready for a stem cell rush.
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NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Shares of stem cell research companies StemCells Inc. and Aastrom Biosciences Inc. surged Wednesday after the U.S. National Institutes of Health issued guidelines that allow government funding of research on stem cells derived from human embryos and fetal tissue.
Stem cells are early master cells that can develop into many different types of cells. Researchers hope the cells some day can be routinely delivered directly to diseased human tissue -- such as to the brain, liver and heart -- and thereby treat or cure a variety of degenerative ailments.
StemCells <STEM.O>, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., was up 2-5/8 to 8, or 48 percent, in heavy afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. Shares of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Aastrom <ASTM.O> were up 1-1/8 to 2-11/16, or 71 percent, also on the Nasdaq.
StemCells is studying stem cells derived from fetal tissue and discarded embryos as potential therapies for the central nervous system, pancreas and liver. The company was previously known as CytoTherapeutics Inc. until changing its name in May.
Aastrom <ASTM.O> does not use embryonic or fetal cells for its research, but instead harvests stem cells from the marrow of donors and patients.
Todd Simpson, chief financial officer of Aastrom, told Reuters the new NIH guidelines therefore have no direct bearing on his company or its collaborators. Nevertheless, he said the new guidelines will likely spur overall research on stem cells -- a reason that investors apparently snapped up shares of Aastrom on Wednesday.
"With the guidelines in place, new biological processes to grow cells will be formulated by researchers in academia and elsewhere, which we hope will create demand for our products," Simpson said.
Aastrom multiplies the stem cells it derives from bone marrow by growing them in its automated Replicell equipment. The cells are then made available to doctors and researchers.
Aastrom is also conducting research to determine if its stem cells can be used to treat various types of cancer, including of those of the breast, leukemia and lymphoma.
Ann Tsukamoto, head of scientific operations for StemCells, said in an interview that the government had never prohibited companies from using stem cells derived from embryos or fetal tissues, unless they received federal funding. But earlier NIH rules had forbidden academic researchers who receive federal funding from using such stem cells in their research.
"That ban on funding to academic researchers has now been lifted, so many more academics will now feel free to collaborate with StemCells to find how to best use our stem cells to find disease targets, to identify genes related to diseases and to develop new drugs," she said.
Under the NIH rules, government-funded scientists would be able to study only stem cells taken from frozen embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization. Fertility clinics typically discard extra embryos after couples have conceived as many children as they want.
The rules put into effect NIH proposals unveiled last year. They prohibit payments for embryos, a provision meant to deter people from creating embryos specifically for research or to provide stem cells for the therapeutic use of themselves or others.
In addition, government-funded scientists themselves would not be able to harvest stem cells from embryos. That would be left to private companies, which would then pass on the cells to the scientists. The guideline is meant to sidestep the delicate issue of using taxpayer money on what abortion opponents call destruction of a human life.
14:40 08-23-00 |
